Dems Take Another Vacation From History

(National Review Online)  This column was written by Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.)

---

Over a week ago, the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives left town for a ten-day recess without taking action on a vital, bipartisan bill to fix the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). A temporary fix to FISA, the Protect America Act, expired midnight, February 17 - the act allowed intelligence agencies to monitor suspected foreign terrorists' electronic communications, on foreign soil, without time-consuming court orders.

The corresponding Senate bill passed by a vote of 68-29 and, with 21 Democrats pledging their support, the House bill would easily have passed if Speaker Pelosi permitted it to be brought to a vote. This inaction represents more than just unprecedented irresponsibility by the House leadership - it indicates House Democrats are taking a vacation from history.

Democrats claim that authorities provided under the Protect America Act, even though the act is expired, will allow the government to continue to monitor known foreign terrorists, without bureaucratic obstacles, for up to a year. This is misleading - those authorities will not cover many potential threats, especially new ones. With the Protect America Act expired, detecting and neutralizing many threats will now require burdensome paperwork, government lawyers, and court orders. This bureaucracy will cost precious time, time that could mean the difference in stopping a terrorist plot or saving the life of an American soldier.

Another key part of the bill the Senate passed provided immunity from lawsuits to private companies that allegedly assisted U.S. intelligence agencies in monitoring suspected terrorists' communications. At the time, the government assured the companies the monitoring was legal, but trial attorneys are suing for billions of dollars - and have contributed more $1.5 million to Democrat coffers.

Without protection from the lawsuits, these companies obviously will be reluctant to cooperate with the government in the future. A similar signal will be sent to intelligence officers on the front lines of the battle with al-Qaeda, many of whom have been forced to take out professional liability insurance to protect them from the actions of the Democratic Congress.

This fits into a broader trend of Democrats' behavior over the last two decades. "A vacation from history" is a phrase many conservatives have used to describe the national-security policies of the Clinton administration, which operated on the faulty premise that the end of the Cold War meant the end of serious threats to our nation.

As a result, CIA funding and personnel were slashed drastically, putting the agency into what then-director George Tenet claimed was "Chapter 11" by 1997. The CIA downgraded its analysis of terrorism in the 1990s, but it did find the money and personnel for politically correct intelligence efforts such as a "DCI Environmental Center," which used spy satellites to monitor volcanoes and sea-turtle nests.

The current House leadership has dismissed Republican concerns about the ongoing global threat from radical Jihadists and the need to give U.S. intelligence agencies the tools they need to combat this threat - they accuse Republicans of "fear mongering." By doing so, the House leadership has chosen to ignore not just the catastrophic post-9/11 attacks in London, Madrid, and Bali, or the two dozen terrorist plots against the United States foiled since 2001, but also more recent history, such as the December 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto and al-Qaeda activity over the last six months in Denmark, Germany, and Algeria.

Meanwhile, politically correct intelligence hasn't died - in the 2008 Intelligence Authorization bill, House and Senate Democrats directed U.S. intelligence agencies to draft a National Intelligence Assessment on global climate change. House Intelligence Committee staff recently visited CIA for talks on how the agency is analyzing global warming.

There is no greater responsibility for U.S. elected officials than to protect the American people. Leaving for a ten-day vacation without fixing FISA first gambles with our national security. When the House reconvenes this week, our top priority should be passing the Senate FISA bill. History never takes a vacation. Neither do terrorists.
By Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.)
Reprinted with permission from National Review Online

[sanfelz]

The telecom companies scam the public in ordinary everyday transactions. They must be held accountable for illegal behavior whether acting at the government behest under the national security umbrella or charging hidden fees on unauthorized services.

Wiretapping and surveillance can be done legally. Congress should insist that theses activities must be done with the approval of a judge and that telecom companies must be held liable for illegal behavior.

[sjc_1]

This is important and should not be rushed. It seems like every time Bush wants to pull a fast one he claims that it must be done now. All that happened is we went back to the FISA laws that we have had for decades and the law that allowed him more latitude expired. But you could see the hyperbole and fear mongering start immediately. People should keep track of how many times the Republicans lie about things. Record all of this and play it back to the public and let those politicians that use fear and lies see for themselves how they look and why their credibility is shot.

[noloyalisti]

The Republicans can''t be trusted with freedom, that''s why the NRO is wrong in this whole article. Their basic premise of leadership is wrong, that they have any desire to do good for the people.

The best thing we can each do individually is make the terms GOP, conservative and republican be bad words so that everyone who says them has to spit in disgust. They had their chance and they made a mockery of all of us.

[it_oldtimer]

CBS presents us with this NRO pack of lies right alongside another article that says that the claims the NRO is making here are totally false.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/25/opinion/courtwatch/main3875776.shtml

[kofiananimus]

Hoekstra is a hokey ''****.
Gov''t agencies can still spy on people and wait 48 hours AFTER they''ve done the spying to deal with getting a warrant through the SECRET FISA court, as they always could before 9/11 (and before 9/11 they successfully gathered info warning of Bin Laden''s intent to attack America, but Bush and Condi sat on it and did nothing). What Bush did, which is DISGUSTING, is remove the checks and balances from the system so that the gov''t could spy on people without having to prove to anyone that they had legitimate reasons for doing so. It is Nixon''s wet dream come true. FISA is there to protect us from that abuse of power, and it is obstructing the cons from abusing their power, so they are pissing and moaning and lying about it.
Companies ought to be punished for their crimes too. They knew what they were doing was illegal.
Why do republicans hate America, checks and balances, and legal justice??? You want history Hoekstra? Why don''t you look up the Nazi regime, McCarthyism, and Watergate. Maybe you''ll actually learn why the republicans have DESTROYED a great country.

[taddles-2009]

Hoekstra, you are part of the problem not the solution. You are a fear-mongering obstructionist and a liar. Hope you still have that job at the furniture store, you''re gonna need it when you get voted out of office.

[quatrops]

Hoekstra is just MAKING NOISE when he complains about congressional inaction. Bush (and his neocon cabal) is going to continue to do whatever he pleases, regardless of laws, the constitution, or the will of the people.

Congress could go on a 10-month holiday right now and it would make no difference as to what our scofflaw president will do or not do. Their only reason for staying in session would be impeachment, and they have passed the point where that would be effective.

[andor3]

"`He has maintained the most secret regime`? you state this like it is fact."

It is fact. also one of the most misleading and corporate-influenced. three strikes. GWB has squandered no only the goodwill and reputation of the US, but his own credibility too. When he advocates something, there is no reason anyone should care.

[payasyougo]

"The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing."

[azurensis-2009]

"Sure I lament the loss of those freedoms we once took for granted, but in this new world, our very lives depend on surveillance for our own good."

Spoken like a true coward. You spit on the graves of every military man and woman who has died to preserve those freedoms that you so willingly hand over to the government because you are terrified.